Oliver Brackenbury

I never in my life expected In a Handful of Minutes to inspire...

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:54:48 -0400

I never in my life expected In a Handful of Minutes to inspire fan art, let alone an image of yours truly…but that’s just what I got in the mail yesterday from the young and talented Reinis of Latvia. Apparently it was even one of the pieces in his first ever gallery showing!

Dang, excuse me for a moment while I feel extremely flattered.

In keeping with the looking back while on the cusp of a project...

Tue, 15 May 2012 19:20:43 -0400

In keeping with the looking back while on the cusp of a project bearing fruit, here’s the second collaboration between Mark Zanin and I - Hunters. He directed while I wrote.

We filmed this in the summer of 2009 as sort of a pilot for an entire webseries called EverythingIsUnthinkable. This was to be the second episode (filmed instead of the first due to it being simpler to produce), telling the tale of a pair of genetically engineered hunters from…elsewhere…busily tracking down their prey.

This was one of those cases where seemingly everything that could go wrong with the production…did, right down to the horror of having one of our actors taken out of commission the night before by suffering a truly unfortunate attack somewhere on the streets of Scarborough. Despite fractured bones and a concussion he still, amazingly, wanted to perform but we and his wife preferred to go the route of a last minute substitution.

Despite this and other frustrations, I still look back at this as a noble effort with some very nice shots and acting in it. I hope one day we can get the opportunity to produce the whole series - especially as it was to be a slow burn with several reveals I’m still dying to spring on an audience.

With my most current project nearing fruition, I’ve found...

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:36:00 -0400

With my most current project nearing fruition, I’ve found myself looking to the past.

Tonight We Fall In Love was my first feature film script and the above is the first thing I ever directed. Having just finished my degree I was dying to film a feature but knew I didn’t have the funds or the experience necessary. So instead I cooked up this trailer, bringing it from concept to screening in the Ottawa Byward Market over the course of about three months.

Like anybody, I cringe a little when comparing my earlier efforts to present ones but when all is said and done I’ve no regrets about what I and the good people who worked with me made that summer. It was a great learning experience and I was proud to present the finished work to everyone when we screened it at my favourite place to get a drink during my University years, The Mercury Lounge.

Plus, I’m rather fond of being able to see any type of artist’s earlier work so I can see how they’ve evolved. Maybe you do too? This trailer was my first collaboration with Mark Zanin while Sweet Fever, Eggs and Shawn are our latest. I’d like to think we’ve come a ways these past six years!

Imogen Grace as Sweet Fever on set at the London Tap House - May...

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:01:37 -0400

Imogen Grace as Sweet Fever on set at the London Tap House - May 10th, 2012

Picture taken by yours truly and tweaked in Photoshop CS5. More behind the scenes pictures can be seen on the Sweet Fever flikr feed.

I hope nobody beats our "Eggs"...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:22:00 -0400

So yes! I’m pretty pleased to announce that a short film I wrote, “Eggs”, will be screened at the “Inside Out LGBT Film Festival” of Toronto at the TIFF Bell Lightbox!

SHAWN A short film starring Jonathan Nathaniel and Sarah Jean...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:46:00 -0400

SHAWN

A short film starring Jonathan Nathaniel and Sarah Jean Hodkinson.

Directed and Edited by Mark Zanin

Written by Oliver Brackenbury

Cinematography by Greg Winterton

Sound by Ali Khurshid

Special thanks to Ogden Funeral Home for letting us use their beautiful chapel.

[-]

So yes, this is a sequel of sorts to Eggs. Same characters, different story with a different feel to it. We all really enjoyed working on Eggs, so the team re-assembled to produce two more shorts. Yes yes, there is another one on the way!

Oh and here’s some production stills I took for Shawn.

Sweet Fever buttons arrived in my mail today, hurrah! I designed...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:33:30 -0400

Sweet Fever buttons arrived in my mail today, hurrah!

I designed these in Photoshop CS5 using the original logo, photos by yours truly and for Crunchy Luke’s button (the B&W fella with the phone) I worked on a still taken from footage shot by our director of photography, Greg Winterton.

On the weekend of March 3rd & 4th two shorts,...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:02:00 -0500

On the weekend of March 3rd & 4th two shorts, “Shawn” & “Whiskey”, were filmed. I might have written them (yes, I did!). I also took some behind-the-scenes pictures and you can see the full album right here.

Both starred the same great actors from “Eggs”, Sarah Jean Hodkinson and Jonathan Nathaniel, while being directed by Mark Zanin.

The Bedlam All Girl Pillow Fight Revue

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:21:11 -0500

The Bedlam All Girl Pillow Fight Revue:

Here’s a little article I wrote for West & Crooked, featuring a couple of photos by yours truly.

EGGS A short film starring Sarah Jean Hodkinson and Jonathan...

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:00:00 -0500

EGGS

A short film starring Sarah Jean Hodkinson and Jonathan Nathaniel. (IMDB page)

On April 26th it was accepted to play at the TIFF Lightbox as part of the Inside Out film festival and was first to be screened on May 24th as part of the Local Heroes short film event.

Directed and Edited by Mark Zanin
Cinematography by Greg Winterton
Sound by Kyle Hudson
Written by Oliver Brackenbury

Music by Belle and Sebastien

[-]

The backstory to this is that Sarah and Jonathan were looking to pro-actively expand their reel, so they commissioned my good friend and frequent collaborator Mark to film two scenes for them. One scene was chosen from Sex & the City and the other was to be an original.

Knowing about the other scene, I tried to do something in a similar vein when Mark asked me to take on the writing duties.

As this isn’t being submitted to any festivals or anything, Mark went with some quality Belle & Sebastian music for the soundtrack.

igotopinions: This gives me pleasure. (Original photo by...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:49:53 -0400

igotopinions:

This gives me pleasure. (Original photo by moi)

Tweaked in Photoshop CS5 and the “moi” is me, of course.

Finding ourselves with a little time to kill between location...

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:34:00 -0400

Finding ourselves with a little time to kill between location moves while filming Sweet Fever this past July, we decided to grab a quick promo for the series.

Director - Mark Zanin

Featuring - Imogen Grace & Tiffany Martin

Writer & Editor - Oliver Brackenbury (That’s me!)

Separating the Manboys from the Manborgs

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:06:00 -0400

Separating the Manboys from the Manborgs:

Click the link above for a review I wrote of the pulp film Manborg for soundonsight.org as part of their coverage of the 2011 Toronto After Dark film festival.

As an exercise in Illustrator I drew up this poster for In a...

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:52:00 -0400

As an exercise in Illustrator I drew up this poster for In a Handful of Minutes, trying to include the iconic elements of the show (Vest, pocket watch, brown dress shirt w/pale blue tie and Umbra BT font) while loosely aping the style of Ikko Tanaka - particularly this piece.

Using prosumer grade equipment in my own home, I began producing...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:09:00 -0400

Using prosumer grade equipment in my own home, I began producing this weekly tongue-in-cheek review show just over three years ago to create a multi-disciplinary learning environment for myself.

Web series are a nexus of so many useful talents. Writing, video editing, graphic design, conducting interviews, copyright law, presenting, web design, online community management, e-commerce and even producing are all areas I’ve become more experienced with while making this show.

For most of the show’s run it was done in front of a greenscreen in a more formal and graphic intensive style, but recently we’ve switched to more intimate, pared down presentation.

You can see more at www.handfulofminutes.com

A store logo designed to be used in making a prop for the...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:52:00 -0400

A store logo designed to be used in making a prop for the webseries Sweet Fever.

First designed from scratch in Adobe Illustrator CS5, the final product was produced with reusable vinyl.

This is the teaser trailer for Sweet Fever, a webseries and...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:40:00 -0400

This is the teaser trailer for Sweet Fever, a webseries and labour of love during my spare time.

As happens on indie productions I’ve worn many hats, but am primarily the screenwriter, co-producer and co-creator. The series is a female-led comedy that involves colourful costumes, candy and professional pillow fighting. Contrary to the optimistic teaser, the first full episode should be going online some time early in the summer of 2012.

Check out the website for more information or check out some behind-the-scenes stills I’ve taken.

Talented cinematographer Bruce William Harper on the set of...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:30:00 -0400

Talented cinematographer Bruce William Harper on the set of Sweet Fever.

More of my production stills for Sweet Fever can be seen on their flikr account.

A bridge between Hull and Ottawa. Edited using Photoshop...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:07:29 -0400

A bridge between Hull and Ottawa. Edited using Photoshop CS5.

More examples of my photography can be found on my Flikr account.

A title card for a longer video I was commissioned to do for a...

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:43:00 -0400

A title card for a longer video I was commissioned to do for a guy who likes to run roleplaying games with A/V to aid him. The “Get Ready” is a placeholder for the main content.

Music featured: “Silence” by Portishead, which I don’t have the rights to nor any desire to try and make money from.